I know better than to get attached to celebrity couples. For one, most of what you see is not real (ahem! Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens). And secondly, it's usually over before you have a chance to get used to it.
But once in awhile, two stars align and actually get me to care. This week, I was inexplicably saddened to learn of the breakup of Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy, coupled for five years. They are both likable, funny people, and always seemed so loving and normal by celebrity standards.
Word is that Jim's longtime battle with depression, which would often lead him to go AWOL for days at a time, took it's toll on Jenny. I sympathize. I know from experience how hard it is to keep caring for someone who's unreachable.
But once in awhile, two stars align and actually get me to care. This week, I was inexplicably saddened to learn of the breakup of Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy, coupled for five years. They are both likable, funny people, and always seemed so loving and normal by celebrity standards.
Word is that Jim's longtime battle with depression, which would often lead him to go AWOL for days at a time, took it's toll on Jenny. I sympathize. I know from experience how hard it is to keep caring for someone who's unreachable.
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There is a darker side to these two, and quite honestly, I feel a huge amount of schadenfreude at this news. Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey have used their celebrity to inflict more damage on our country than any two people I can think of who are not professionally involved in politics. Thanks in significant part to these two, diseases that we basically had under control that used to kill children by the thousands are making a comeback. Yes, our celebrity-obsessed culture and the news media's efforts to present "both sides" even when one side is full of shit, are to blame as well, but these two have made a conscious choice to throw their lot in with the ignorant.
ReplyDeleteIn the pantheon of the willfully ignorant, these two shine bright. Their attitude towards science would fit in well on the Texas Board of Education.
I don't profess to being on top of the celebrity couples scene as other on this site...especially our two informed and charming creators of this blog. I didn't even know Carrey and McCarthy were together so that tells you something. And as for Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, does anyone over 12 yrs old even give a shit?
ReplyDeleteA question for Sanjiv: What diseases are you referring to, and how exactly did these two exert so much influence to "inflict more damage on our country than any two people I can think of who are not professionally involved in politics" ? I'm not saying I disagree, I'm just simply unaware. It's a pretty bold statement considering some of the misdeeds in the fields of religion, science, finance, commerce, etc.
And thanks for the word of the day: schadenfreude...nice one!
-Mr. A
You know, all I've heard is that Jenny McCarthy is very active in autism awareness since her child is afflicted with it. As for speculation, Jim Carrey apparently battles depression, and I can make the assumption that he hides it behind his comedy, and taps into it for his dramatic work.
ReplyDeleteSo anyway, I'm confused, as well. As an aside, would it only be shadenfreude if the recipient doesn't deserve it?
Mr. A-
ReplyDeleteJenny McCarthy is convinced that childhood vaccinations caused her son's autism, and has been one of the most vocal and visible figures in the anti-vaccination movement. When they were involved, Jim Carrey echoed her sentiments and was often at her side when she would go on news programs pushing her theory.
The supposed "link" between vaccines and autism has been explored fairly thoroughly, and has been found not to exist. Nonetheless, parents are foregoing vaccines out of this fear, which has led to a rise in incidents of old childhood killers like measles.
Jenny McCarthy has used her celebrity to advance a cause that is downright dangerous, and has led to children unnecessarily developing diseases that used to be major childhood scourges. (Measles incidents, for example, have been rising in recent years due to lower vaccination rates.) Jim Carrey has aided and abetted her in that offense. They may not have invented the theory that vaccines cause autism, but they have done more than anyone to mainstream this unsubstantiated bit of woo.
One of the singular achievements of the modern age is the elimination of diseases that used to kill huge numbers of children at very young ages. Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey threaten to reverse that because they believe something for which there is no evidence, and have been given a microphone by our media culture's obsession with faux balance. (Paul Krugman once observed that if, say, a liberal and a conservative disagreed on the shape of the Earth, the CNN headline would read "Opinions differ on shape of the Earth." Not "Earth is round, and this person saying it's not is just plain wrong.")
I believe the autism-vaccination link has been officially debunked, so I agree, people need to shut the hell up about things of which they no little to nothing about. The idea always seemed suspect to me. I always wondered how these fear-mongering bandwagons get rolling.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked to hear that the Foo Fighters supported the cause that believed HIV did not lead to AIDS. This was some years ago; I don't know if they changed their stance on that. But wow, what a dangerous theory for a cool band with influence over the naive and ignorant youth, to endorse.
This conversation took a turn I never anticipated, and for that, as always, I am grateful. I suppose in my sadness over foundered love, I chose to ignore the political. Is there anything on which you are not at least somewhat knowledgeable Sanjiv? Agreed the old school childhood diseases are on the rise again. That much is fact, and it is in part due to the autism lobby. Allegedly, this issue is partly to blame for the destruction of McCarthy's first marriage. Her ex didn't think finding someone to blame would make his son well.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much know nothing about girls. Never have.
ReplyDelete